Here are some pictures from a very pleasant evening with friends near and at the Ferrari Festival, part of the current Italian Week festivities here in Ottawa. (Yes, I'm in Ottawa.) 
Got back into Kabul yesterday - thrilled beyond thrills to reunite with Ms S. and anxious to catch up with other friends. Counting down the minutes (263 as I write this) until my first game of Ultimate.
I had had a fantastic few weeks in Ottawa - thanks to those who encouraged me to spend some time resting between jobs although it was also partly because when I left Kabul I didn't know what would be next. (Slight pity I had to transport all my stuff back and forth.) It was terrific to see Dad and some of my oldest friends.
The trip here was hectic. Collected a new reason for a flight delay in Toronto: "Ladies and Gentlemen we regret to announce that our departure has been delayed for a technical reason, and that technical reason is that we have no pilots. We don't know where they are. We don't know when they will get here. We will keep you informed." I'm not joking. After roughly half an hour one pilot showed up but we didn't move until another ambled up (OK, use of that term is a joke) and then we had another hour on the tarmac while queueing up for de-icing. One loud mouth complained about the de-icing, but would he really honestly have wanted to go without it?
I didn't think I'd make my connection to Dubai but Lufthansa in Frankfurt were marvelous. They had a separate bus waiting at the foot of the stairs for the half dozen of us hoping to make the same connection. Off we zoomed with, apparently, Michael Schumacher at the wheel to the right part of the airport and then we followed a ground staff person at a very brisk walk up to the departure gate for Dubai.
I'm so glad to be back.
Dad in front of his new house in Ottawa
As I mentioned recently I could not give myself enough of a holiday between jobs and my Ottawa trip was also far too rushed. I had a nice time though, with one highlight being the aftermath of a lovely dinner at the Glen Scottish restaurant... where I forgot to leave a tip. The service there is always friendly and so when I went back the next morning to pay up they joked about taking my name down from the front window and so on. If I hadn't tipped them I wouldn't be welcome when I get back from Afghanistan.
I only had three nights in Ottawa and I was pretty busy with sorting through my personal effects, moving some to and from Osgoode Mini Storage (a division of 1457993 Ontario Inc.), and getting my Indian visa. Then I was off to Kabul.
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